Houston earns spot on list of top markets for luxury home sales

The price of oil may be down, but luxury home sales are still making a national splash.

Houston cracked a national top 10 list for $1 million-plus home sales, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Previews International.

The Luxury Market Report ranking is based on home sales in the $1 million-plus category for the last 12 months through June.

Houston saw 955 sales above the $1 million mark during the period, placing it No. 8 on the list.

Million dollar plus home sales rose most in Atlanta (up 70 percent compared with 2014). Los Angeles saw a 23 percent rise, while Seattle was up 21 percent.

New York*: 6,752

Los Angeles: 2,685

San Francisco: 2,324

San Jose: 1,241

Chicago*: 1,098

San Diego*: 1,043

Naples, Fla.*: 999

Houston: 955

Atlanta: 927

Washington D.C.: 854

*The number of sales for these four cities is up by at least 36 percent.

Million dollar home sales may be leveling off in Miami, where sales are driven by international buyers, and San Francisco, which is driven by the tech sector, the report said.

In the previous year’s listing, Houston ranked No. 5 with 981 sales. Cities with higher sales were San Francisco with 2,485, Los Angeles with 2,170, New York with 2,145 and San Jose with 1,119.

New York also topped a list of cities with the most sales at the $10 million and above mark, with 217 such sales. Beverly Hills and Los Angeles tied for No. 2 with 34 sales, Aspen was No. 3 with 24 sales, Miami Beach was No. 4 with 20 sales, followed by Malibu with 15 sales.

The report counted the number of closed sales reported from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 in each market. The information was gathered from area Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases.